Maria João Rodrigues at PES Congress 2025

🇳🇱 🌹 FEPS attended the Party of European Socialists (PES) Congress in Amsterdam, which included a series of fringe events with partners within the Congress.

FEPS President Maria João Rodrigues participated in the panel “Progressive Cooperation in Action” with Robert Biedron MEP, Judith Kirton-Darling, General Secretary, industriAll Europe, Peppe Provenzano, MP, PD, Italy, and Katinka Eikelenboom, Chairperson, GroenLinks.

Rodrigues and also also presented resolutions on strong economies that work for people and universal access to healthcare, which passed unanimously by PES delegates.

She also delivered a strong statement on the upcoming EU budget:

“Of course, we do need to take care of security and defence, but we will never ever sacrifice our progressive priorities for the sake of security – including a Social Europe, Green Transition and Quality Jobs. Our progressive political family is behind the strong foundations of the EU project, such as the Social Pillar or the Green Deal. We must protect these foundations in the future.”

Watch Maria João Rodrigues’ intervention at PES Congress:

On Friday, 17 October, in the afternoon, FEPS hosted a series of fringe events to explore the renewal of social democracy, the shifts in the global order, and the future of work, alongside dedicated training sessions with our partners. Find out more about our fringe events.